The Cable is Cut!

The cable TV is officially gone from this house!  We've had limited basic cable for many years.  We struggled with wanting to cut the cable, but wanted to watch occasional shows, mostly sports for husband, Saturday morning cartoons for the kids, as well as the news, and other tv shows.  Then last January, we got one of those bundles and had the full cable for the last year.  The only show I really liked was I Shouldn't Be Alive, amazing true stories of survival. With the bill due to increase and our kids becoming too dependent on the tv, and the commercials and shows just so inappropriate, we finally got the guts to cut it off!   It has only been a few days, and we do have Netflix on the Wii, so my husband can get his tv time, but I am just so glad and am looking forward to more time with the kids.  I never knew it could be so easy!

Phone Etiquette

It is apparently time to have some phone etiquette lessons here!  When I am at home, I always answer the phone, unless it is my son's friend from down the street. 

The phone rang the other day and my youngest son, 11, looked at the caller ID and said, "It's M....!"  So he answered it as he was taking the phone to his older brother who was outside, "Hi".  Then I hear my older son making unintelligible sounds, rather loudly, into the phone.   Like saying hello with only vowels. 

About a minute later, my son brings the phone to me and says, "It's for you."  Oh no. 

"Hello?"
"Hi, Mrs. L?"
"Yes"
"This is so and so from Dr's office."
Gasp! "I am so sorry! My son thought it was his friend."
Smiling (I could hear it) "That's what I figured. I have kids, too, haha. No problem......"

Time for phone lessons!

God Hears

I forgot the most important part of our story about the dog.  I was the one who was panicking about perhaps keeping a big dog in the family.  I was crying out to God to find the owners.  On Monday, I made more posters with Max's picture on them. (My daughter had done this on Saturday and they put them around our neighborhood.)  I left the house fully believing that "by chance" the owner would see the posters as I was putting them up, and all would live happily ever after.  I went to Petsmart and the Vet and put them up, no one recognizing him.  I was going to put one up at the pound, but needed to get home. 

The next morning, during our family prayer time, my youngest daughter prayed that his family would find him.  Then when it was my turn, I prayed more fervently for a miracle, that by some miracle the owners would somehow find him and call me. Having been reading God's Smuggler again to the kids, and his stories of praying for finances and meetings of other Christians in miraculous ways, I prayed with the same kind of faith in believing that that would happen to us, too.  And so it did! God heard my prayers and answered, helping Max go home.

Max is home!

After 11 days of living with us and certain people in this family starting to get attached and others starting to panic, the dog is safely home.  I think the reason it took so long was because I failed to post pictures of him at the pound.  I had called and they wrote out a description and posted it on the wall, but I thought he was a boxer mix and he isn't. Instead, I posted several places on the internet.  The dear gal that contacted me through petharbor.com didn't look at the boxer post at first. But since one of her little dogs had gotten out the day before and ran over, she was determined to find Max.  My kids named him Max.  The two little dogs that Max was found walking with that day ended up at a local restaurant that coincidentally employs the neighbor of the dog owners. She called the owner who came to pick up the dogs, but of course, Max had vanished.  When she came to see if it was him, the reunion was so sweet.  He clearly missed her and I was so happy that he was with his Mommy.  And another thing,  I couldn't believe it when she called him Max. The kids have been calling him that all week! They tried all kinds of names and he responded to that one the best, so it stuck. Funny.

Whew!

Lost Dogs

A few months ago, we found two Bluetick Coonhounds roaming our neighborhood. The kids begged me to put them in our yard to keep them safe.  We walked them around the neighborhood. I posted their info on the County websites. Checked if they had a chip, they didn't.  No tags either. The next morning, I finally posted them on Craigslist and the owners called within the hour! 

Last Friday, we were out walking our dog and came up to three dogs walking together. They all had the same kind of collar on. The big one followed us on our walk. The little ones went their own way. The big one came home with us. Thinking that the box on the collar was a tracker, I let him stay in our yard until the owners found him. I took him to the vet, no chip. It isn't a tracker, either, it's a bark collar.  When he barks he gets zapped. Oh. 

A week later, he is still here.  I have posted on Craigslist several times, with pics.  No calls.  Why don't owners put tags on their pets?  It would be so much easier to get them home.  There are so many posts about lost and found pets.  Some pets are even stolen from their backyards!  Why don't the people who steal dogs, go find a stray one? The SPCA is full today.  I went to see if the owners made a poster. Nothing.  Where are the two little dogs that were with him? Why aren't they calling????  He is crying now, wants to come inside with our other dog.  He is a big dog and may get bigger. I'm not even sure of the breed, boxer/pit mix??  We do not want to take him to the pound, though he is so cute, he will probably get adopted.  But he wants his family. Sigh.

Then we went to Target.  As we were about to drive away, I looked in front of my car and sitting in a Target cart I see a box with two puppies poking their heads out! I said, "Look! There are puppies!"  My kids jumped out of the car and picked them up, counting five in all!  My daughter picked up the whole box and was about to bring them in the van, but I told her to put them back in the cart. We took the cart and puppies to the outside front of the store and I told the security guard who came out to see.  He thanked me as he reached for his radio.  I am hoping that some soft hearted Target workers will take each of the puppies home.  They were so cute and not crying at all, just kind of bewildered. :(  And hopefully, weaned. So sad.  People are so stupid.

Please put tags on your pets!

Here is our house guest:

Book: God's Smuggler

I can't believe it has taken me 30 years to finally read God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew!  I just don't know why I haven't read it yet.  It is the story of Brother Andrew's work smuggling Bibles into the Iron Curtain in the 50's and 60's.  Amazing, amazing story. I liked it so well, I am reading it out loud to the kids.  He shares amazing stories of God's provision of money even though he never asked anyone for it.  There are stories of him meeting other Christians in these countries, Christian who did not have Bibles and their amazing stories of continuing on in the faith despite the difficulties.  This story stands out to, though it is a sad one:

Two of Brother Andrew's fellow workers, Marcus and Rolf, went to Albania.  They found out that there were no Albanian Bibles.  But then they learned that there was one in a Greek Orthodox Church. They asked to see it, so the priest took them to it.  They stood looking at it for a few minutes, then the Priest turned to go.

"Rolf burst out, 'But I want to go closer! Can't I look at it? I mean, open it. See the pages.'

"As the guide translated, the priest's eyes widened in horror, Closer! But no unordained person ever stood closer than four yards to the Holy Scriptures!

"Then, faltered Rolf, what was the sense of the new translation? Since the priests read Greek, what was this Bible used for?

"Why, to be carried in solemn procession.  To receive the homage and adulation of the people.  What else would a Bible be used for? And think what solace the faithful must gain from knowing that God Himself had spoken in the new language of the great people of Albania."

My Baby is 9!

Not only did my oldest daughter turn 16 just 11 days before, but my baby is 9!!!  It doesn't seem that long ago that I was in constant baby, nursing, diaper mode.  Sniff.

But she is a sweetie and loves to help me in the kitchen.  She loves kitties and clothes and even math!  It's great having a little sister in the house.